ARTICLES ABOUT PURSE BY DATE - PAGE 5

Bargain-hungry shoppers who flock downtown to take advantage of Black Friday sales could seem like easy targets for thieves. But amid the throngs near the Magnificent Mile on Friday, three bystanders helped a crime victim when they chased a parolee accused of snatching a woman's purse and then trapped him in the back seat of a cab on Michigan Avenue until police arrived. One of the good Samaritans, Mike Hochhauser, 31, said he didn't hesitate to chase Richard D. Mendoza, 31, once he stepped out of his building and saw Mendoza stomping on a woman while trying to steal her purse.

By Ryan Haggerty and Carlos Sadovi and Tribune reporters | November 23, 2012

Bargain-hungry shoppers who flock downtown to take advantage of Black Friday sales could seem like easy targets for thieves. But amid the throngs near the Magnificent Mile on Friday, three bystanders helped a crime victim when they chased a parolee accused of snatching a woman's purse and then trapped him in the back seat of a cab on Michigan Avenue until police arrived. One of the Good Samaritans, Mike Hochhauser, 31, said he didn't hesitate to chase Richard D. Mendoza, 31, once he stepped out of his building and allegedly saw Mendoza stomping on a woman while trying to steal her purse.

For most of us, our money doesn't take up much space. And yet our wallets are heavy, bulging monsters that consume huge chunks of our pocket and purse real estate. I once set up a scale on a busy shopping street and weighed women's purses. Want to guess the chief contributor to those heavy loads we carry around? Yup, wallets - big as bricks and stuffed to overflowing with lots more than mere money. Money, in fact, was the least of it. When women opened their wallets to my snoopy scrutiny I found dozens of things that could have, should have, been left at home.

As a full-time social worker who spent much of her time driving to client meetings, Liz Salcedo often found herself running out of energy -- on her iPhone. Salcedo, 27, relied on her smartphone not just to check email and keep in touch with clients, but also to navigate to unfamiliar neighborhoods. And when she returned home at the end of the day, like many busy women, she would often just put her purse down without remembering to recharge her phone. It was her husband, Dan, who would fish out her iPhone and plug it in overnight.

I've loved purses and bags since I was little, but unfortunately, they've also always been a source of embarrassment in my life. I first started carrying a purse in elementary school because I felt like it was the adult thing to do. Well, okay, actually I first started accidentally leaving my purse in dressing rooms in elementary school. In addition, I insisted on stuffing it with whatever cash I had, because what's a purse without money in it, I thought. (Little did I know how wise 8-year-old Kristyn was.)

Police have issued a community alert warning of a purse snatcher who attacks female shoppers while they are unloading carts in parking lots on the Northwest Side. Police said the robber approached the victims while they were unloading shopping carts and grabbed their purses. In some incidents, he used physical force. The bandit fled in a red Dodge van, police said. The robberies have occurred in the morning and afternoon hours on the 4100 block of North Elston Avenue; the 4700 block of West Irving Park Road; the 4600 block of West Belmont Avenue; the 3500 block of North Elston Avenue; the 3900 block of North Meade Avenue; the 2600 block of North Elston Avenue and the 6400 block of West Diversey Avenue.

June 7 (Reuters) - A Walmart store near St. Louis, Missouri was evacuated briefly on Thursday after employees confronted a suspected shoplifter and found what they believed to be a mobile methamphetamine lab in the woman's purse, a St. Louis County police dispatcher said. Employees called police and the store was closed briefly while a hazardous materials team investigated. Police arrested the suspected shoplifter and the store was subsequently re-opened, the dispatcher said.

Dear Amy: I've been married for eight years. I'm 34, and he is 44. We have four kids. We really can-t see eye to eye on anything! My biggest problem is that his parents are way too involved in our marriage. I am a stay-at-home mom and he works. The problem is that he has his check direct-deposited into his mother's account and she pretty much controls our finances. I get maybe $80 every two weeks - that is supposed to last and also take care of the kids. I have no idea how much he gets.

Two Downstate Illinois women who admitted running a counterfeit deluxe leather goods business called "The Purse Lady" face up to five years in prison, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Their guilty pleas came after a bust in which ICE agents found 2,000 purses, 900 wallets and thousands of other items worth a total $1.6 million, the agency said. The items bore haute couture names like Coach, Kate Spade, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Dooney & Bourke, Prada and Tiffany.